


Friends?

by Violent_Bulldog



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Arcades, Broken Bones, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Friendship, Gen, Good Older Sibling Nancy Wheeler, Hair Brushing, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Minor Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Other, Palace Arcade (Stranger Things), Protective Billy Hargrove, Protective Eleven | Jane Hopper, Protective Mike Wheeler, Protective Susan, Shock, Skateboarding, skateboard accident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 13:33:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19702399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violent_Bulldog/pseuds/Violent_Bulldog
Summary: Eleven and Max weren't friends... not even closeWhat would El do when Max gets hurt?





	Friends?

It was a spur of the moment plan, much like most of their plans. All the boys, except for Mike, would meet the two girls at the arcade. Mike would be with them and would try to keep them both civil. Well, mainly El. Max wanted to be friends with the other girl, but El wasn't even slightly interested in acknowledging her existence. Max played it off cool, but she was actually pretty hurt, not like she would tell that to anyone. Never.

The trio were just around the corner from the arcade, when Mike announced that he had forgotten his wallet. He told the two girls to keep going and that he would be back in a few minutes. He started to run back the way they had come, leaving the two girls with only each other to talk to. They walked in silence.

They waited outside the arcade, El sitting on a low wall and Max attempting tricks on her skateboard. El had rolled her eyes at the other girl, focusing on watching for Mike or the other boys. She had ignored when Max had fallen, hearing her mutter curse words in a low voice. El pondered over the meaning of some of those words for a while, until she heard a crash, a thump and a string of profanities. She didn't bother to look towards Max, knowing that she would get up within a few seconds. 

When more than a few seconds passed, El slowly turned to face Max. She hadn't expected to see her, still on the ground with her eyes screwed closed tightly and clutching her right wrist even tighter. El expected even less to hear Max's uneven and frantic breaths and whimpers of pain.

"Max?" El called, hopping off of the wall and slowly approaching the other girl. Max didn't answer and El could sense her pain. El didn't like her but it didn't mean she wanted her to get hurt. Well, not badly.

"Max?" El called again, crouching down next her. She noticed how disfigured Max's right wrist looked.

Max slowly opened her eyes, revealing them to be watery. Her bottom lip was trembling slightly as well. She glanced at El before looking away, frantically trying to blink the unshed tears.

"I-I-I'm f-fine" She whispered, sitting up. Blood rushed to her head, making her dizzy. She slumped back down, only to be caught by El before her head hit the ground. Max wasn't sure if she'd ever seen El looking so concerned. 

"You aren't fine. You're hurt" El said, her tone way too soft compared to how she normally addressed Max.

"Yeah. I'm not fine. I-I don't know what to do" Max whimpered, her eyes pooling with tears again. Her breathing was still uneven but the grip against her wrist had lessened. El noticed that she looked paler than usual.

"We, uh... wait for the boys, Mike. He will know" El said, trying to convince both of them. Max nodded weakly, her head resting in El's lap.

"S-Shit" She whimpered, closing her eyes tightly again. El noticed the tears slip down the sides of her face.

"You'll be okay" El whispered, gently playing with Max's hair in hope that it would distract the injured girl. It did, slowly, as her breathing evened out and her tears stopped.

Mike made his way back to the girls, now equipped with his wallet. He hadn't expected to see them both on the ground, Max with her head slumped in El's lap and El gently playing with her hair. Mike ran over quickly.

"W-What happened?" He asked, kneeling down to their level.

"She fell from the board. She's hurt. But she won't wake up" El said, glancing up at Mike before looking back at Max.

"Wait, she won't wake up?" He asked, his voice harsher than he meant it to be. El shook her head.

"She's been like this for a few minutes. Just before you arrived. What do we do?" She looked back to Mike, her eyes filled with worry.

"I, uh... uh, uh, I'll call Nancy! She can take us to the hospital!" He jumped up and rushed to the payphone that was at the side of the arcade. He quickly dialled his house number.

"Hello?" Nancy muttered into the phone, clearly unimpressed by whoever was calling.

"Nancy, we need you at the arcade!" Mike said quickly.

"Ugh, no" She answered, about to hang up

"Nancy, Max got hurt! She won't wake up and I don't know if she hit her head or if she's just in shock or what, so please!" He begged. 

"...I'll be there in a minute" She answered before hanging up. Mike sighed in relief. He went back to the girls.

"She's on her way. D-Do you know what happened?" He asked El, sitting back down beside her.

"She was doing things. Tricks. She fell and hurt her wrist. She couldn't stay sitting up either. She said it hurt. A lot" El replied, looking thoughtfully at the other girl. 

"Did she hit her head?" Mike murmured, looking for any signs of Nancy or the other boys. Nothing.

"I didn't see her fall. Maybe" El answered. They sat in silence, El watching Max and making sure that she kept breathing and Mike watching for his sister or their friends.

Nancy stuck to her words and was there within a few minutes. The trio all helped lift Max into the car, El staying in the back with her. The drive to the emergency room was quick an silent.

A group of doctors took Max away as soon as they stepped foot inside the building. A nurse came over to the trio, asking questions to confirm who Max was.

"Her full name?" She had asked.

"Maxine Mayfield" Mike answered.

"Her address?"

"Uh, 4819 Cherry Lane"

"Her emergency contacts?"

"Why the hell would we know th-" Mike started.

"Susan and Billy Hargrove" El cut him off. The nurse gave a curt nod before leaving to call them both. Mike looked at El in surprise.

"She told Will a few weeks ago, just in case something happened. I do pay attention" She said before looking down at the white tiles. Mike sighed, slumping further into the plastic chair he was seated in. El sat silently to his right and Nancy was on the phone with someone, probably Jonathan or their mom. 

Less than twenty minutes later, Billy and a woman (Mike assumed it was Susan) came through the doors quickly. They spoke to the guy at the reception desk, getting the same vague answer that Mike had got.

"They're checking her out. When they're ready, you'll be told" 

Billy had sighed before turning to face the chairs, spotting Mike and El. He walked over quickly.

"What happened, cause they won't tell us anything. Susan's freaking out and... I just want to make sure that Max is okay" He huffed, averting his face to the floor. Ever since Max threatened him with Steve's bat, he had been much nicer to her and her friends. They actually acted like siblings. They'd never tell but they did love each other, deep down.

"She fell off her skateboard and might have hit her head, we aren't sure. But she's definitely broke her wrist" Mike told him. 

"I've told her that that thing is dangerous, but she never listens to me" Billy grumbled to himself. Mike snickered quietly. 

"Wait, how did you even get here if you were at the arcade?" Billy asked, looking over at Mike and El. Mike pointed to Nancy, who was still on the phone.

"Mike. Dustin, Will, Lucus. They are still at the arcade" El spoke quietly, looking at the boy with concern.

"Crap. Uh, I'll ask Nancy to drive me over to tell them. If she ever gets off the stupid phone" Mike mumbled. He wasn't sure if Nancy heard him but she hung up the phone and walked over to the small group.

"You can walk or give me 5 dollars for gas" She stated, twirling the car keys on her finger. Mike glared at her and stood up.

"Fine, whatever. Ass" He grumbled as they walked out the doors.

El sat awkwardly with Billy and Ms Hargrove for an uncomfortably long time. After an hour, maybe three, Max walked into the waiting room, her wrist in a deep red cast. She looked exhausted as her mother tackled her into a hug.

"Okay... Mom, can't breathe" Max wheezed as her mother finally pulled away. Billy stood next to Susan and gave Max a small smile, silently letting her know that he was glad that she was okay. Max returned the smile.

El stood nearby, watching the interactions, unsure about how she should act. Did she go over and talk? Did she just leave silently? The thoughts got cut when Max looked over, smiled and approached El.

"Hey" Max hummed, bumping her shoulder with El's lightly.

"Hi" El whispered, smiling slightly.

"You didn't have to stay... but I'm glad you did" Max sighed. El just smiled in return.

"Are you... okay?" El asked after Billy and Susan left. Max had insisted that she walked home with El, much to her mother's dismay.

"I am" Max replied. El looked at the girl, noticing how thoughtful she looked.

"What are you thinking?"

"You never liked me before. But you helped me when I fell and you helped take me to the hospital. You waited to know that I was okay. I was wondering why we never got on before" Max sighed, kicking a stone. El looked at her, then to the ground.

"I'm not good with people. I left and then I came back and you were here and I didn't know you. I just... needed time, I think?" She answered.

Max stopped walking and turned to El, extending her hand.

"Friends?"

El took her hand and shook it.

"Friends"


End file.
